Hydrogel Containing Nanoparticle-Stabilized Liposomes for Topical Antimicrobial Delivery

Abstract

Adsorbing small charged nanoparticles onto the outer surfaces of liposomes has become an effective strategy to stabilize liposomes against fusion prior to “seeing” target bacteria, yet allow them to fuse with the bacteria upon arrival at the infection sites. As a result, nanoparticle-stabilized liposomes have become an emerging drug delivery platform for treatment of various bacterial infections. To facilitate the translation of this platform for clinical tests and uses, herein we integrate nanoparticle-stabilized liposomes with hydrogel technology for more effective and sustained topical drug delivery. The hydrogel formulation not only preserves the structural integrity of the nanoparticle-stabilized liposomes, but also allows for controllable viscoeleasticity and tunable liposome release rate. Using Staphylococcus aureus bacteria as a model pathogen, we demonstrate that the hydrogel formulation can effectively release nanoparticle-stabilized liposomes to the bacterial culture, which subsequently fuse with bacterial membrane in a pH-dependent manner. When topically applied onto mouse skin, the hydrogel formulation does not generate any observable skin toxicity within a 7-day treatment. Collectively, the hydrogel containing nanoparticle-stabilized liposomes hold great promise for topical applications against various microbial infections.

In vivo treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection with liposomal linolenic acid reduces colonization and ameliorates inflammation

“…In addition, the fluorescence signal was exclusively and evenly distributed around the bacterial nucleoids, and the image clearly reflected the characteristic spiral shape of H. pylori bacteria. Therefore, the microscopic observation, consistent with our previous studies (15), confirms the fusion of LipoLLA with H. pylori.…”

Antibacterial Hydrogels

“…Gao et al demonstrated that hydrogels containing Au NP‐stabilized liposomes displayed excellent antibacterial properties on S. aureus without skin toxicity to mice ( Figure 4 ). 45 In their research, the carboxyl‐modified Au NPs were absorbed onto the outer surfaces of cationic liposomes as stabilizers. The hydrogel formulation allowed for controllable viscoelasticity and tunable liposome release rate.…”

In situ facile-forming PEG cross-linked albumin hydrogels loaded with an apoptotic TRAIL protein

“…Tissues from mice at 21 days post-injection were harvested and H&E-or TUNEL-stained, as described previously [56][57][58][59]. Cross-sections of epidermal layers of H&E-stained mouse previously exposed to HSA-SH/PEG-MAL hydrogel exhibited no significant inflammatory or toxicological responses as compared with non-exposed normal skin.…”